Irish Moss is done!!

As I guessed in the last post, I switched to a size 2 for the last 4 founds of the neckband knitting. And 16 rounds of neckband ribbing were plenty. To make sure, I knit in a circ for most of the stitches and dpns with only 10 or so stitches for the rest, and ask the maple man to try it on. I think he tired of the trying-on requests but indulged me.

Friday was our office Christmas party then we went to a graduation party for a good friend. There was minor imbibing so there was no serious knitting. On Saturday, December 15, I bound off the neck and woven in the last ends. And today, the maple man wore it to church.

Without further ado, I present Irish Moss:



And up close:



I wanted to take a picture on him but forgot to do it before he changed. A modeled picture will come later...

Just for the record,
Started August 4, finished December 15. That is 4 1/2 months... Not monogamous knitting but almost. And steady.
Yarn Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool Hazel colorway 13 skeins
(I bought 15, 2 were insurance in my mind, I guess I guessed well)
Needles: size 5 knitpicks options, plus size 3 for the ribbing and size 2 for the end of the neckband ribbing
Pattern: Alice Starmore's Irish Moss (Thanks to my local library for having Aran Knitting, and allowing my to check out and re-check...)
Modified to make the sweater longer and the sleeves longer and to add stitches, and cable chart repeats, based on my gauge. Actually, my first gauge swatch matched the pattern specs but felt "too airy". I feared it wouldn't be stable during wearing, and a bit too drapey for a manly cable sweater. As I knit them, the sweater front and back panels had 195 stitches in each row. I've thought about calculating total stitches but I don't think I want to know.

Christmas knitting

It seems a while since I posted and posts may be spare over the next week or two. I'm trying to finish Irish Moss and I'm sooo close. Then I need to do some knitting on mom's sweater. To get it to a try-on point if I can't get it totally finished. Mom has already reminded me that her birthday is in February. So maybe she'll get most of a sweater for Christmas and the rest (a completed sweater) for her birthday.

I seamed Irish Moss like a mad-knitter last weekend. The life-line/chart markers really helped with the side seams and sleeve seams. The saddle seams were contrary as I was seaming an end of the shoulder to a side of the saddle. I ended up quartering each section and easing each to match. It was slow work but fitted together.

At knit night on Tuesday, I pulled out lots and lots of markers and life-lines. About a coffee cup full.

I picked up stitches for the neck band but had to make adjustments to compensate for the adjustments I had made in the overall stitch counts. I kept the integrated chart A cables in the ribbing. I tried to use a 32" circ (the same kp harmony size 3 I used for the front bottom ribbing) magic loop style, but it just wasn't long enough so I hunted up a set of dpns (wasn't in a mood to buy a different circ which has little chance for my future knitting). I am 12 rows in to a 20 row neck band but I am thinking 16 rows may be enough... We'll see when we get there. Also thinking about dropping down to a size 2 to pull in the ribbing more. We'll see what I think tomorrow.

In other news, knitpicks now has cat bordhi's new sock book for a nice discount. I ordered one for me and a few for my Sisters. On Saturday. And there was a box on my porch tonight. That is basically 4 days shipping during the holiday season. Good job Kelly and crew. Thanks. Except I lost an hour or two of knitting time tonight.

2 saddles

The Irish Moss sleeves each have a cable-y saddle. (The maple man thinks of them as officer's stripes.) The front has been frogged back to before the shoulder shaping. I'm quite pleased that I put in a lifeline before starting the shaping.

I'm off to knit another inch or so of cables then more shoulder shaping. And watch the cowboy game. ;-)

All is well

Still adjusting to the new computer... [Scoll way down for knitting content.]

itunes is ticking me off. Anybody know of another program to use with my ipod to keep up with podcasts and load a bit of music from CDs?

The maple man has to make a pdf to send in related to the rhodie convention next year in Tulsa. I did not move over his make-a-pdf shareware. Worse than that, I got rid of it (on the old computer, I asked first "are you going to make any more pdf's) because the name of the program looked suspiciously like some software known to cause problems with some thumbdrive software. Who knew they were so complicated?

But I digress... So we had to re-download, and re-install primo pdf. And he made a pdf yesterday. But he didn't send it off. He wanted to think about it. Today he couldn't find it. So he made a new one and sent it off. This evening I'm knitting. He starts asking questions about the program files directory. What?? He wants to know where the program files directory is. He thinks his lost pdf is in there. What?? He will not be dissuaded. I have to put down the knitting and find him the program files. First I had to tell Vista to quit hiding system files and folders. Don't remember what all I clicked but about a half hour later, we found all the program files and his lost pdf's (one from yesterday and one from today that he had not mentioned). Then he announced that all is well with the world.

I was ok with that until I noticed the time and the fact that I had missed the first part of Desperate Housewives...

In other all-is-well news, the irish moss is coming along nicely. And it fits. Well, it will with minor adjustment. I really really needed to try it on the maple man before more knitting. The front and back and sleeves were knitted. All was. complete save the saddle shoulders and the neckline ribbing.

I basted the side seams and the sleeve seams and basted the sleeves to the body parts. But what about those missing shoulders? I could not ask him to put it on and try to hold it up. So I used a t-shirt.



I could have cut it up to have just the shoulders and neck ribbing but there's no need. And it fits. He commented right away that the sleeves are just right. Looked a bit long to me but poor guy's probably never had sleeves too long. And the length will take up a smidge with elbow bend wrinkles. The sweater front and back do need to be an inch or so longer. I've already blocked in some length to account for the bloom of the wool/silk blend. I have lifelines holding the back stitches before the shoulder bind-off. And lifelines holding the front stitches before I knit the shoulder shaping.

So I'm knitting saddles. And preparing to knit an inch or so more body. And I'm ready to be done with cables for a while.

let the holidays begin...

I'm off work today and next Monday, plus the holidays, so we're having a nice long weekend. There will be cooking tomorrow but I've convinced the maple man we don't need to cook a turkey for the two of us. I think we've decided on butterfly pork chops with some of the traditional side dishes. Watch this space for a list. We have different favorites so it will be interesting to see how many we end up with in our effort to not get carried away.

But, and you might have guessed this, a long weekend means lots of knitting time. Last night at knit night, I finished knitting the last rows on the back of Irish Moss. Now there is the binding off, but we'll have no normal binding off for Alice. In the cables, there are decreases during the bind off so I have to pay some attention. I considered briefly doing a three needle bind off for the shoulders, and then I remembered the saddles (which I still need to knit. Forget about it, I said to myself, and follow the bind off instructions.

The maple man asked this morning what I was going to be knitting. I told him I was about ready for the bind off. Then I'll do some blocking and basting-together to make sure this thing is going to fit. Not sure how I'd make adjustments but, ummm, there will be no frogging and reknitting. In the back of my mind, I am thinking about my brother who is a smidge smaller than the maple man, tall, but not quite as tall, and no dun-laps (def. when your belly done lapped over your belt).

Back to the knitting plans... I said the ribbing would be knitted soon. He says "I've been meaning to talk to you about that". I'm thinking, this is all I need, suggestions from the peanut gallery a non-knitter. He says "How much ribbing am I getting? 1/2 inch, 1 inch?" I said about an inch or a little more. I don't have any idea how much Alice has in mind but I figure it's up to me. We need enough ribbing to make the neckline stable and look good. I guess I'll be considering the suggestions of the maple man and Alice.

Then he explained about the glasses. He says he likes to take his sweater off with his glasses on. The things you learn about a man after all these years.

a shoulder

Irish Moss has a shoulder:



Well, almost two shoulders. I'm off to finish knitting shoulder 2, but first a close-up of cable-y goodness:

more irish moss

I think this is the front. I soaked and blocked a sleeve and it grew in length two inches (about 10%) so if the other panel is the front, I think it will may be too long (although I don't think a man who is 6'4" has ever had a too long sweater), so it will be the back and this the front.

I'm still on ball 11. 19 grams are left. Which could be knit up by early next week. If I knit more and spin less...

ball 10

I finished knitting ball 10 on Thursday night and started ball 11. When I wound up the yarn cake that is ball 11, I thought to myself, maybe I should just wind one skein. Maybe this is the last one?

Well, I'm maybe halfway up the front of the sweater. And the other front/back has 4 balls (three are knitted in, the fourth is knitted some and waiting for length determinations), so I'm guessing, and feel pretty sure, that I will need to use ball 12. :-(

I will edit this post later today, after I have a chance to take pics with good light, to add what has become the obligatory weekly status-of-the-sweater picture.

eta the promised pic:

Irish Moss week 11

I've been knitting on the maple man's Irish moss for 11 weeks. I'm mid-way through ball 10:



I'm really getting tired of it but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and and trying to stick with it. I can glance at a chart and chant to myself front, back, back, then my head knows that front, front, back comes next. The "purl back" rows go quicker. Well, they're not really purl backs, but I can generally read the knitting and know what to knit without looking at the charts much. And rows 1 and 9 have fewer cables so they go pretty quickly too.

It slows me down when I find odd stitches that need to be switched from knits to purls or vice-versa. And it slows me down when I have to stop and pick out vm (vegetative matter, maybe it's hay?) Which sometimes happens several times per row. And sometimes doesn't happen for several rows.

In any case, there is progress. The maple man has a trip to Oregon planned for a couple of weeks from now. The sweater won't likely be ready. However, his birthday is in mid-November and I'm guessing it may be ready by then. If not, maybe it's a Christmas sweater?

Ball 9

Ball 9 is gone. Tonight is knit night and I have learned that cable-y charted patterns are not so good for knitting and talking and having time to ooh and aah and fondle yarn-y show and tell's so I'll take mom's sweater and knit some garter.

I think I'll knit the rest of the skein I used for swatching for ball 10. It's 39 grams so maybe I'll finish it faster?

sweater progress

Updated sweater pics:

Irish Moss for the maple man:


and up close:


I keep knitting and I keep looking at the ball of yarn (ball 9). It doesn't seem to want to run out. It goes on and on. Lots of yardage per ball is overrated.

And mom's sweater:


The white bastey stitches show where the balls run out. There's no real point to it but it helps me see how long a ball is lasting.

There is a provisional cast on (96) at the beginning which is somewhere on the back of the sweater. Doesn't matter at this point, where on the back, as I intend to unzip the provis. and knit on, hopefully in a manner that will be transparent to the user (using a phrase I hear often). The back of sleeve stitches (40) are on hold. Then I decreased 4 more (k2tog) during the next 8 rows two stitches in from the edge. After a few plain rows (I should count), I increased 4 over the next 8 rows (used a m1 bar increase... I tried a lifted increase and it didn't look right in garter). The total underarm section is about 4 and a half inches. There is a lifeline at the end of the underarm rows in case I need to get back to that point easily. Then I added back the front of sleeve stitches with another provisional cast on (40). If it turns out that the armhole is not deep enough (I'm pretty sure it is), there will be a shoulder saddle.

Yes, I'm kind of a provisional cast-on nut. The maple man has heard me talk about them and seen them in projects enough that he feels left out because he has no provisional cast ons (or is it casts on? what is the plural of cast on?) in his sweater. I told him he could have a provisional cast on in his next sweater.

progress

There is progress on Irish Moss for the maple man:



I knit a bit on ball 8 on the front, and noticed how long the sweater front seemed. I knit another row or two then matched it up to the "model" sweater. It is an long as the front, up to the neckline ribbing. The maple man thinks it could be an inch or so longer, but it's on hold pending bloom analysis.

I still have the swatches but I don't know the exact swatch size prior to swimming. So my idea is that since I have two similarly sized sleeves, I will swim and block one and see what I gain in size, then I'll know what to expect from the front/back. Proportionally, of course. The sleeves are still on holder cables waiting for the saddles to be knit. Which are waiting for the basted-test-try-on.

In the meantime, I've cast-on with ball 9 and made my way through 23 rows of ribbing, a row of complicated increases, and most of the first chart set. I knit the ribbing with my new knitpicks harmony circ (size 3us) [link]. The options style only goes down to size 4. The harmony needle made for much more enjoyable knitting than the first rib which was knitted with a size 3 almost-antique plastic straight. The main body of the sweater is being knit on size 5 kp options (the original nickel plated ones).


And there is progress on Mom's sweater:



Back to my knitting...

Irish Moss - 5 weeks - 5 balls

What is beginning to be my weekly update on Irish Moss for the maple man:



I am slogging knitting along on the front. Ball 5 (first ball used for the front) yielded about 6 inches. [The little blue yarn loop on the right side marks where ball 5 ended.]

The rows are 195 stitches long. I'm still doing lifelines at the end of (16 rows) charts B and D. I still have to look at the pattern for charts B and D. The other charts are burned into my brain.

more Irish Moss

The sweater is not a surprise to the maple man. He may be surprised if/when I get it done but he knows I'm working on it. His initial projection was that he thought I would knit one yard per day and it would take six years to complete. I haven't heard any recalculations after I knitted one ball in week 1. His birthday is in mid-November and that's my target but if that doesn't work out, Christmas is my back-up plan.

I ask him to "try it on" almost daily, as in laying the sleeve over his arm to see how far up it goes. Then I wrap it around his upper arm to see if I'm done with the increases. I'm not. But they are getting farther apart. I'm trying to keep notes so sleeve 2 can resemble sleeve 1.

I did a lot of stuff today between knitting times. There was laundry, and playing on the computer (have you seen the madge hat on knitty (and ravelry) and the sheep wrap?). There was some spinning. And making grape jelly. And I frogged fetching. I decided sooo tight was not a good idea, so they'll be restarted as time permits. I was going to help mow the front yard but by the time I heard the mower, and went to the bathroom, and found my shoes, I was looking for my gloves and he was done. Darn?

But there was knitting on the sweater. 10 grams worth.

one week one ball

IM081107 001
Originally uploaded by soapquiltknit

I've been knitting one week ( well, technically eight days if you consider that I started knitting on said sleeve last Saturday, I think, and this is Saturday evening) on Irish Moss and I have one sleeve approximately up to the maple man's elbow (abour 13 1/4 inches). I'm just about done with the increases so it will be fairly straight up from here.

I'm trying to hang tough and knit almost monogamously on this sweater, but dang, my right index finger (the pusher finger) is getting sore.

I have found a handy feature of my kp options circ. There's a little hole near the cable join that works as an automatic life-liner. You may see some light green lifelines in the pic. I am putting them in at the end of each 16 row chart, just in case of disaster, and I'm keeping them as a counting aid. Also I think they will help make for even seaming.

Irish Moss 2

Some knitting math:
Ball 1 started at 48 grams and is now at 29.3 grams. 39 percent of ball 1 has been knit. 7 grams were knit tonight. I'm not ready to make long term projections, but this sweater is a long-term-project.

Lynn, I don't know if I've gotten to fun yet. It is going faster, and I'm doing some of my cabling without a cable needle. Thanks to Wendy of www.wendyknits.net. Here's a link to her lesson on doing cables without a cable needle [link].

There is still quite a bit of paying attention. Especially on that center chart. Something happened on the second time through, different from the first... But I'm calling it a design element.